World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024: Chang Yani wins long-awaited women's 3m springboard diving world title
The four-time synchro world champion sealed her first individual gold, ahead of compatriot Chen Yiwen in silver, and Republic of Korea's Kim Suji in bronze.
After two years of near misses, Chang Yani won her first women's 3m springboard diving world title at the World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024 on Friday (9 February).
The People's Republic of China athlete, who finished with silver in 2023 and bronze in 2022, signalled her intention to go for gold from the off, winning the opening two rounds with jumps of 72.00 and 69.75.
However, two-time defending champion, Chen Yiwen, stayed in touch with almost identical scores of 69.00 and 72.00.
The Chinese pair won their third-consecutive synchro world title earlier in the week, but their close bond would be temporarily put on hold as they locked horns in a mesmerising display of diving.
Kim Suji of the Republic of Korea also started well, and sat in third place at the halfway point with dives of 63.00 and 69.75.
Chang ratcheted things up in the third round with a 72.00, and Chen, possibly feeling the pressure, made a mistake in her reply for 58.50, handing the advantage to her compatriot.
Rio 2016 bronze medallist Maddison Keeney also started to make her way up the leaderboard with a jump of 67.50 to go just behind Kim in fourth.
The penultimate round saw Chang build on her lead with a solid reverse 2.5 somersaults in pike position worth 75.00. She then concluded with a solid final dive, scoring 66.00, securing her first individual springboard crown with a total of 354.75.
Chen delivered a reminder of a class with a final dive of 72.00 to seal silver 336.60, while Kim completed the podium with 311.25.
How Chang Yani climbed 'slowly like a little snail' to win gold
Chang, who made an uncharacteristic major error in qualification, said this to Olympics.com after:
"After the mistake occurred in the preliminary round, I was very clear about what went wrong. It was a problem that had arisen during training as well, so I was able to quickly adjust. The timing of that mistake served as a warning for me, and in the two rounds afterwards I focused more on my own issues and worked to address them during the game. As a result, the following two rounds went relatively smoothly."
On going from bronze at Budapest 2022, to silver last year in Fukuoka, and now gold in Doha, she said:
"I’ve been climbing step by step, experiencing ups and downs along the way. I feel like I’ve been slowly progressing. I’m extremely grateful for the support of my team, coaches, and team leaders, which has allowed me to climb slowly like a little snail to where I am now. I’m very thankful to them, and I will continue to work hard for my dream."
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